My transition from Paris to Taipei was too abrupt for me to write down anything significant. I remember panicing about my incoming internship during my last week in Paris. I would meet up with one or two friends, if not for the last time in our lives, come back to Cecile's place and pack two or three items with feigned nonchalance. I was highly agitated and couldn't concentrate on the literature paper I was supposed to finish before my departure.
Now that I've declined a Saturday night out to think things through, I'll try to sort out some of the things I really wanted to have written down a week ago. I might have to be vague sometimes.
Academics
I know I could have done a lot better in terms of academics but I guess I also needed a break from real school my first semester in Paris. I was really stressed out from the whole visa application episode and I had no time to adjust to the French college system when I clumsily arrived in Paris, a few weeks later than everyone else.
By the end of the first semester, I finally got hold of how things worked: All classes are in lecture forms, and student participation is generally meager compared to what we have in the United States. Undergraduate classes mostly require more work throughout the semester, so if you're not self-disciplined enough, it's a safe bet. Master-level classes often require much more background in the field, or else it's very hard to understand what the professors are lecturing in class. Class work usually only consists of one long final paper backed up by substantial research, and this is where freedom comes in within the French system.
I was therefore at a more comfortable place to choose classes the second semester. Since I had two part-time jobs and wanted to concentrate my effort, I took four instead of five classes. The French writing workshop was always my favorite, while the translation theory class was quite disappointing. Two things I learned in particular that are worthy of note: (1) (re)discovery of psychoanalysis and post-colonial research. Lacan and Freud make much more sense than I previously imagined they would, though where or what register of knowledge I am to put their teaching remains an open question. While I had grown numb to a lot of things in the States, reality in France stimulated me again as to how much communication this world still needs to understand the Other. Post-colonial research is far from a cliché. It will continue to be a battle. Even the so-called victims need to better understand where they stood. (2)
Probably due to the wide spread of film theories in Paris, video clips are more commonly used by instructors in the classroom. Thanks to this experience, I have come to appreciate videos and documentaries so much more than before as an important way to gain important insight.
Friends
With more free time on my hands, I was able to hang out more with people in my program and friends I made in Paris. I was fortunate to have become really close with Jasy and Ally, with whom I'd always get Soli sandwiches with after our French workshop. I felt at home whenever I was with my two other Yalie friends, Alex and Alison, as well. I always enjoy conversations where I learn and am made to think, not just intellectual subjects, but also about life. These friends have made me a much stronger person than before, and I really appreciate it.
Besides meeting the wonderful Haitian friend, I also stumbled into a group of Chinese students who would often gather to talk about China. I am only too sad that this happened during my last month in Paris, but I'm happy our conversations are always on-going. France is such a centralized country that Paris houses enough great universities with a considerable number of Chinese students to form a sizable group and have meaningful discussions. Northern American schools tend to be more scattered across the continent. Canada is better than the States, but with little school diversity, I'd say.
Now that I've declined a Saturday night out to think things through, I'll try to sort out some of the things I really wanted to have written down a week ago. I might have to be vague sometimes.
Academics
I know I could have done a lot better in terms of academics but I guess I also needed a break from real school my first semester in Paris. I was really stressed out from the whole visa application episode and I had no time to adjust to the French college system when I clumsily arrived in Paris, a few weeks later than everyone else.
By the end of the first semester, I finally got hold of how things worked: All classes are in lecture forms, and student participation is generally meager compared to what we have in the United States. Undergraduate classes mostly require more work throughout the semester, so if you're not self-disciplined enough, it's a safe bet. Master-level classes often require much more background in the field, or else it's very hard to understand what the professors are lecturing in class. Class work usually only consists of one long final paper backed up by substantial research, and this is where freedom comes in within the French system.
I was therefore at a more comfortable place to choose classes the second semester. Since I had two part-time jobs and wanted to concentrate my effort, I took four instead of five classes. The French writing workshop was always my favorite, while the translation theory class was quite disappointing. Two things I learned in particular that are worthy of note: (1) (re)discovery of psychoanalysis and post-colonial research. Lacan and Freud make much more sense than I previously imagined they would, though where or what register of knowledge I am to put their teaching remains an open question. While I had grown numb to a lot of things in the States, reality in France stimulated me again as to how much communication this world still needs to understand the Other. Post-colonial research is far from a cliché. It will continue to be a battle. Even the so-called victims need to better understand where they stood. (2)
Probably due to the wide spread of film theories in Paris, video clips are more commonly used by instructors in the classroom. Thanks to this experience, I have come to appreciate videos and documentaries so much more than before as an important way to gain important insight.
Friends
With more free time on my hands, I was able to hang out more with people in my program and friends I made in Paris. I was fortunate to have become really close with Jasy and Ally, with whom I'd always get Soli sandwiches with after our French workshop. I felt at home whenever I was with my two other Yalie friends, Alex and Alison, as well. I always enjoy conversations where I learn and am made to think, not just intellectual subjects, but also about life. These friends have made me a much stronger person than before, and I really appreciate it.
Besides meeting the wonderful Haitian friend, I also stumbled into a group of Chinese students who would often gather to talk about China. I am only too sad that this happened during my last month in Paris, but I'm happy our conversations are always on-going. France is such a centralized country that Paris houses enough great universities with a considerable number of Chinese students to form a sizable group and have meaningful discussions. Northern American schools tend to be more scattered across the continent. Canada is better than the States, but with little school diversity, I'd say.
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